SCHATZ MAKES IT TEN AT CLAY COUNTY
SPENCER, IOWA (Sept. 14) – They are coming like a freight train and Donny Schatz and his STP team are looking to slow down any time soon on the World of Outlaws (WoO) trail. Schatz bounced back from qualifying 18th and found himself with a chance to win Friday night at Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa. When leader Lucas Wolf struggled to get past a pair of lapped cars, the four-time WoO champion took advantage and raced away to score his 10th WoO A-Feature of 2012.
“We worked hard for that one,” said Schatz following his 123rd career WoO A-Feature triumph. “These STP guys worked really hard tonight. We didn’t qualify where we wanted to, so getting to second in the heat was the whole night for us. We got a good start the first time and then track Steve (Kinser) long enough to get that second spot. From there it was just about going forward. We started the feature seventh and the guys gave me another great car. Lucas was setting a good pace and I just kept working on him and lapped traffic is a big part of this deal. He got hung up and we got by.”
Schatz was the 20th car of the 32 to take a qualifying lap, and the Fargo, N.D., ended up 18th. He started fifth in the second heat, but after an hoping lap accident, he would restart third. He quickly jumped into second behind his Tony Stewart Racing teammate Steve Kinser and the two would put on a thrilling battle for six laps until Kinser ultimately pulled away. The finish put Schatz in the dash, where he started 10th and finished seventh.
In the 30-lap feature, Schatz moved from seventh to fifth on the opening lap and then worked his way past Sammy Swindell for fourth. When leader Craig Dollansky crashed trying to get through lapped traffic, Schatz took advantage of the restart going from fourth to second and then kept the pressure on Wolfe until the late opportunity presented itself.
The victory was his third career victory at the 3/8-mile dirt oval, and following the previous two he went on to win the Outlaw’s point championship (2007 and 2008). With his victory coupled with Dollansky’s 17th-place finish, Schatz now holds a 101-point advantage in the 2012 WoO championship standings. Eleven races remain including tonight’s event at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn.